Sleeper for railway-lines.



PATENTED JUNE 30, 1903.

A. OLIVIER.

SLEEPER FOR RAILWAY LINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 10, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

Witnesses- Inventor by .l ttfiney.

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lfatented J une 30, 1903.

PATENT ()FFICE.

ALBERTO OLIVIER, OF MILAN, ITALY.

SLEEPER FOR RAILWAY-LINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 732,213, dated June 30, 1903. Application filed November 10, 1902. Serial No. 130,812. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERTO OLIVIER, a resident of Milan, in the Kingdom of Italy,-have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sleepers for Railways, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to sleepers for railways, tramways, and the like, and has for its object to provide an efficient sleeper which while being very solid and easy to manufacture will afford a firm base or support for the rails and will be easy to put in place and will be very durable.

Hitherto attempts have been made to replace ordinary wooden sleepers by those of metal; but up to the present time no one has discovered a form thereof which fulfils the requirements of the service, since the sleepers must be made so as to ofier not only a sufficient support to the trains or trams either moving or at rest, but they must themselves also have a solid bearing on the ground.

Starting with the principle that the rails are only an equivalent for parallel beams or girders it follows that since they sustain the shock of passing trains other similar girders ought to be able to give them a solid base on the ground; but it is evident that a simple iron girder would not be able to hold them securely. Therefore I have endeavored to give my sleeper such a form that it will embrace all the qualities that it ought to have, and I give it the form represented in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section of a sleeper constructed according to this invention. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the said sleeper.

Since there is no doubt that next to the oval the arc of circle is the figure which presents the greatest resistance when it is well supported at the sides, 1 form my improved sleeper B B with two vertical plates parallel to each other C O O 0, held together and supported by a cylindrical vault D D D, of which the directrix is an arc of a circle. This vault is strengthened at its vertex E E, where it terminates in a horizontal plane surface F F. Corresponding to the lower flange of the rails at G G the vertical plates are formed with recesses I I of such a depth relatively to the bearing of the base of the sleeper upon the upper face F F of the vault that the rails rest at all times on three points of the sleeper, the middle support being constituted by a plane surface of a considerable breadth, serving as a base that could not be more solid and firm, the sleeper resting solidly on the ground, either directly by the lateral plates or by the intermediary of ballast H, which it will be necessary to ram under the shoe. The passages L are provided for the drainage of the water, which would collect in the angles formed between the vault and the plates. A sleeper thus formed when it has been well set on the prepared ground and when it has been subjected to the required pressure will be very advantageous. The said sleeper will furthermore have the following advantages:

First. Greater durability than that of wooden sleepers.

Second. Uniformity of resistance at all points of the line.

Third. The regular'employment of sleepers which can be regularly spaced, for example, at one meter from one another, which is not possible with wooden sleepers, which from time to time must vary by short distances on account of their irregularities of form and defects in the blocks of wood.

Fourth. Considerable economy in the working expenses, which are at present very great, as it is always necessary to keep on hand gangs of workmen to arrange the ballast, iuspect the sleepers, replace the bad ones, and for similar duties. Economy will also arise from the fact that it will no longer be necessary to maintain large reserves of sleepers ready for exchange.

Fifth. The putting down of new sleepers and the strengthening of the line will generally be facilitated when the soil has been prepared, as any workman will be able to join the rails.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim- A sleeper for railways, tramways or the like, of drawn metal, formed by two vertical parallel plates, held together by a vault in In testimony of which I have signed my the arc of a circle, strengthened at its upper name to this specification in the presence of 10 part, where it terminates in a plane horizontwo subscribing Witnesses. tal surface as described relatively to the side 5 plates, the rails being supported by the said ALBERTO OLIVIER plane surface of the plates, substantially as I Witnesses:

described with reference to the accompany- GEORGEO LIREMANN, ing drawings. EVERABD MARTRAN. 

